Mireiyu's journey
by JediMasterDarjaak
Summary: A girl called Mireiyu leaves New Bark Town with her Totodile to start the Johto League. Far away in Goldenrod City, a dark Pokemon is left in the underground...
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon (if I did, then I would have dumped my job long ago), only my own characters. Everything else belongs to Nintendo

Journey's start 

Deep in the Underground of Goldenrod City, a trainer looked around furtively before opening a Pokeball. Goldenrod's Underground was never exactly packed, but at this time of night, it was deserted. Nonetheless, the trainer took every precaution to make sure he went unobserved. A small, snowy white and pale blue Absol emerged from its' Pokeball, yawning as it looked up at its trainer. The boy sighed and ruffled Absol's head, causing the canine Pokemon to purr.

"I hate to leave you Absol, but if Team Rocket ever find you, I don't know what'll happen. They could kill you, or use you for evil. They won't learn anything from me about you, so don't worry."

The Absol pup looked up at its trainer, smiling innocently. The boy shuddered as he stroked the Pokemon's soft, velvety fur.

"Take care Absol."

With that solemn farewell, the boy turned away from the dark Pokemon and ran up the stairs out of the Underground. Hopefully, Team Rocket would never find his Absol pup.

Morning dawned beautifully in New Bark Town. Today, three new Pokemon trainers were due to pick up their Pokemon. However, reaching the lab in time was the last thing on Mireiyu Kassor's mind. She lay in bed, sleeping soundly. She had aqua hued hair that ran down her back in a ponytail, soft brown eyes, and was about average height for someone just turned 10. She turned over in her bed, murmuring in her sleep. Her older brother had also become a Pokemon trainer, and was currently travelling Hoenn. He'd captured and raised forty-three Pokemon, some of which she had never seen in real life. He had sent her some extra travelling money and equipment, including five potions, ten full heals, and three Great Balls to make catching Pokemon easier. Her HootHoot alarm clock began to ring, but she carried on sleeping. One of the things that were astonishing about Mireiyu was how she could sleep for almost 24 hours at a stretch. The morning wore on, and she only woke up when her mother came knocking on her door.

"Mireiyu, wake up! It's 11.30!"

Mireiyu stirred slowly and looked at her door.

"Mum, I'm still sleepy!"

There came the sound of a heavy sigh from the other side of her door.

"Shall I tell Professor Elm you don't want a Pokemon then?"

Mireiyu leapt out of bed as if she'd been electrocuted by a Zapdos. She looked at her alarm clock and began to panic.

"11.30! Oh, why did I have to oversleep on the most important day I'll have to face for ages?"

Panicking, she ran to her cupboard, selected the first outfit she saw, and dashed into her bathroom. A few minutes later she ran back to her room, and began to pull on her clothes. She wore a creamy white tank top, a pink and red jacket, a knee-length pair of green shorts and a green bandanna tied over her forehead. She began to look around for her bag, when her mother called her downstairs. Snatching up her wallet and pouch, she ran downstairs to her kitchen.

"Mum, have you seen my bag? I thought I left it by my bed."

"You did, sweetie. However, I brought it down and packed it for you. All your brother's things are in there, as well as some food and your tent."

Mireiyu smiled and stood still as she looked up at her mother. Her mother smiled and hugged her.

"Go on now Mireiyu, go become as brilliant a Pokemon trainer as your brother. You'd better hurry up, the lab closes at 12."

Mireiyu wiped her eyes as she shouldered her backpack.

"I'll contact you on my Pokegear every single night mum, I promise I will! I've already saved the number onto it."

Her mother nodded, trying to hide the tears in her eyes.

"It's going to be quiet with just me here now. I'll have to get your brother to send me one of his Pokemon to keep me company. Go on Mireiyu, go and become famous for me."

Mireiyu nodded and walked out the front door, waving to her mother. Once the door shut, she took a deep breath, and walked towards the lab, which was barely a hop, skip and a jump away from her house. She walked in to see Professor Elm sat at a desk, typing away at a computer. On a small rack next to him was a single Pokeball, with two empty spaces either side of it. Mireiyu walked into the quiet lab, and spoke in a timid voice.

"Umm, excuse me sir."

Professor Elm turned around in his chair.

"Ah, you must be Mireiyu. You're a bit late aren't you?"

Mireiyu blushed and looked down. When she looked up again, her cheeks were fiery red.

"Could I have a Pokemon please? Sorry I kept you waiting."

Prof Elm nodded.

"There's only one left, but you're welcome to it. Mireiyu, say hello to Totodile!"

Mireiyu picked up the Pokeball and let her starter Pokemon out. Totodile emerged in a flash of light. He gave her a toothy grin and looked her over. Mireiyu gave a smile as she leant down and picked him up.

"Wow, he's so cute! I can't believe how lucky I am!"

Totodile gave a somewhat raspy laugh at her compliments, and snuggled up against her waist. Mireiyu smiled. Her older brother had four Water Pokemon, and she had always wanted one of her own since seeing her brother's Marill. Professor Elm waited until she and Totodile had finished getting acquainted, then handed Mireiyu five shrunken Pokeballs and a Pokedex.

"There you go Mireiyu. I wish you the best of luck on your journey."

Mireiyu smiled and thanked Professor Elm for Totodile, then walked out the lab. Before her, Route 29 stretched out into the distance. She pulled her bag up onto her back, recalled Totodile, and walked onto the well-worn path. She looked around. Thick bushes and trees grew in profusion along the sides of the trail, and patches of high grass where she knew wild Pokemon could be found. Deciding that now would be a perfect time to test her skills, she wandered into the grass. What she saw was definitely out of the ordinary.

About twenty or more Hoppip, gentle Grass and Flying type Pokemon, were hopping around on the ground, cheerfully calling to one another in their high-pitched voices. But what caught Mireiyu's attention was a differently coloured Hoppip sitting by itself on a tree branch. She hurriedly took out her Pokedex and held it up to the oddly coloured Pokemon.

"Hoppip. The Cottonweed Pokemon. Hoppip is a Grass and Flying type and uses light wind to travel to feeding grounds."

Mireiyu waited for an image of Hoppip to load onto her Pokedex. When it did, she could barely draw breath out of pure excitement. The Hoppip pictured on the Pokedex was pink with green leaves. This one was green all over! Knowing that this could well be an alleged 'shiny' Pokemon, she sent out Totodile. The green Hoppip didn't seem to notice as she and Totodile came running up to its' tree. Only when Totodile called out to it did it look up. The other Hoppip had all gone by now, so the green Hoppip floated down to the ground. Mireiyu couldn't believe her luck. For ten years, her brother had searched for shiny Pokemon and only ever seen two, one being a shiny Skarmory, the other being a shiny Eevee. Now here she was, face to face with a super-rare Pokemon, and she hadn't been on her Pokemon journey for half an hour yet! She reached out and gently stroked the green Hoppip.

"Can we battle you please Hoppip?"

Hoppip bobbed up and down in what could only be a nod. Mireiyu's heart soared. Now she had a good chance at capturing a really rare Pokemon!

"Ok Totodile, use Scratch attack!"

Totodile attacked Hoppip, and managed to weaken it quite a bit. Hoppip tried a Splash, but as usual, it did no damage. Mireiyu felt sorry for the little Cottonweed Pokemon, since it couldn't attack back. She took one of the Great Balls out of her bag and enlarged it.

"Here's hoping. Pokeball, go!"

She threw the blue and red Pokeball at the grass type, and Hoppip was sucked in. The ball shook once, twice, thrice, and then finally went still. Only then did Mireiyu move. She bent over, picked up the Pokeball, and yelled in delight.

"HOORAY! I caught myself a Hoppip!"

She smiled as she looked at her Great ball. She decided to let Hoppip out for some freedom, and threw the ball up in the air. It snapped open, and Hoppip came out in a flurry of stars. She scanned it again with her Pokedex, and saw that this one was a female. She sat down on the dry grass and picked up her shiny Pokemon. Hoppip looked up at her and settled down in her trainer's arms.

"Would you like a name Hoppip? I don't really want to call you by the name of your species."

Hoppip bounced up and down, indicating she did want a name. Mireiyu thought hard, and finally decided on the simplest name she could think of.

"How about Hoppy?"

Hoppy smiled her agreement. She nuzzled down next to her new trainer, and began to fall asleep. Totodile climbed onto Mireiyu's lap also and gave her a smile. Mireiyu smiled back. Already her Pokemon journey was going better than she ever dreamt. Although she would probably never see another wild shiny Pokemon again, she felt happy knowing she had Hoppy and Totodile with her.

Far away in Goldenrod City, the Absol pup retreated into the unused parts of the Underground. It began to sniff around for scraps, but soon found there was little edible in the warehouse area. Absol curled up in a dark corner, and slowly drifted off to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Night fever**

Mireiyu had set up camp early, having her tent all ready by 6pm. It was starting to get dark already, but she wasn't afraid of the darkness now she had two Pokemon with her. Although only Totodile could attack directly, since Hoppy only knew Splash, she felt safe in their company. She unrolled her mat, and then laid her sleeping bag on top of it. Both Totodile and Hoppy looked around, as though being in a tent was a new experience for them. Mireiyu stroked both her Pokemon, smiling.

"I take it both of you would like to stay out your Pokeballs for the night?"

Both Pokemon nodded. Hoppy wandered towards the tent flap and looked outside. The sun was very low on the horizon, and the sky was dark purple. Already, the first few stars were faintly visible. Mireiyu pulled a can of tinned meat out of her bag and began to open it. She also put down some food for Hoppy and Totodile. After heating up her supper on a small fire, she pulled out a multi-tooled knife. Her brother had sent it to her, and she was surprised to find she'd packed it. Pulling out the spoon on it, she began to eat her food. It wasn't the best she'd ever made, but it was by no means inedible. She sat down on the grass, chewing her food and looking up at the sky. It was a very cool evening, and the scenery was picture perfect. She was about to look towards the thin crescent moon when she became aware of a red glow on the other side of the sky. She turned around, but the glow faded. Frowning, she continued to watch the patch of sky, but nothing appeared. Mireiyu shrugged, and turned back to her food.

Half an hour later, Totodile and Hoppy had fallen asleep. Mireiyu wasn't tired, mainly due to her lie in that morning. She sat by the fire, staring up at the stars. It was a lovely night, although there was no moon, which always made a night perfect for Mireiyu. She sighed, and then suddenly, her Pokegear started to ring. Reacting sharply, she grabbed it and answered.

"Hello?"

"Yo Mireiyu, how's it going?"

"Dan?"

"You were expecting Ho-oh?"

Mireiyu laughed.

"Now that WOULD be a stretch."

"So how many Pokemon have you caught, sis? Please say you have more than one, I've got a bet riding on you."

"Well, prepare to be shocked Dan."

"If your next words are 'I've captured Ho-oh', you'd better call an ambulance for me."

"This afternoon I captured a Hoppip."

"Nice. I always liked them. Hey Mireiyu, Hoppip ARE pink aren't they? I think I've been in Hoenn too long."

"Yes, all except mine."

"You don't mean…"

"That's right, she's a shiny."

Mireiyu winced as her brother yelled down the mouthpiece on his Pokegear.

"WHAT?"

"Man, you barely even NEED your Pokegear. You could probably shout to me from Hoenn."

"I've spent ten years travelling in search of shiny Pokemon, and so far I own only one and have seen only one other. And you've caught one the day you started?"

Mireiyu sighed.

"Dan, catching a shiny Pokemon isn't any different from catching a normal one. They're just a different colour. A real Pokemon's character is in its heart, not its hue."

Suddenly a burst of static clouded the line. After a few seconds, the line went dead. Mireiyu checked the battery on her Pokegear, and saw it was fine. Her brother must have not charged his up lately. Mireiyu lay down and sighed. She wished she could get to Hoenn too, but she was more interested in the Johto region. Hoppy had woken up, and jumped into the air. Her leaves caught the air amazingly well, and she floated towards her trainer. The warm air rising from the fire lifted her up, making her squeak in pleasure. Mireiyu smiled as her shiny Hoppip flew in the cool night air, squeaking happily as she did so. As Hoppy came in to land on Mireiyu's head, a harsh cawing broke out, and Hoppy gave a squeal of dismay. Mireiyu looked up to see a pair of Murkrow attacking her Pokemon.

"Hey! Stop that! Hoppy didn't do anything to you!"

The black Pokemon glanced at Mireiyu, but started on Hoppy again anyway. One grabbed Hoppy and began to fly higher and higher with the small Pokemon, whilst the other flapped nearby, cawing in amusement. By now Hoppy was too high to recall, and if the Murkrow dropped her, she'd be very badly hurt. But then, seemingly from nowhere, came a third flying Pokemon. Mireiyu clicked open her Pokedex, thinking she'd seen this Pokemon before.

"Charizard. The Flame Pokemon. Charizard is the evolved form of Charmeleon, and can spit fire hot enough to melt rock."

Mireiyu looked worried. If Charizard used its flamethrower, Murkrow AND Hoppy would be knocked out. However, she had nothing to fear. The Charizard used a Quick Attack and made the Murkrow drop Hoppy. Hoppy plummeted to the ground, her leaves damaged. Charizard fired two Flamethrowers, one at each of Hoppy's tormentors, and dived down to pluck Hoppy out of the sky. A boy approached Mireiyu's camp, about 15 by his looks.

"Is that shiny yours miss?"

Mireiyu could only nod as Charizard carried Hoppy down to her. Hoppy was hurt badly and was crying. Charizard put her down, and she scurried to Mireiyu quickly. Mireiyu took her into her arms and cuddled her, shushing her and rocking her back and forth. The boy looked on as she cradled her Grass Pokemon. He recalled his Charizard and made to leave. Mireiyu called to him.

"Umm, excuse me?"

The boy turned around.

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask a favour please?"

"Ok."

"Can I battle you with my Hoppy please? I need to train her so that doesn't happen again."

"Sure thing. I'll go easy so your Hoppip can level up more, but only if I don't have to give half my money away if I lose."

Mireiyu nodded and pulled out a potion. She sprayed it over Hoppy, healing her somewhat. She then looked up at the boy.

"Deal. And thank you."

Hoppy jumped down and stood ready to fight. The boy sent out a Shuckle, a red turtle Pokemon. Mireiyu called out to Hoppy.

"Hoppy, see if you can tackle it!"

Hoppy ran up to Shuckle and hit it with a Tackle attack. Shuckle rolled back and was out. Hoppy leapt up and down with joy, then suddenly, her beady yellow eyes glimmered, indicating she'd just learned a new attack. Almost immediately, her eyes glimmered again. Mireiyu scanned her with the Pokedex, and saw she'd learnt Synthesis and Absorb. The boy smiled at the look of delight on Mireiyu's face.

"Ok, want another fight?"

"Sure!"

The boy let out a Wooper. Mireiyu looked it up and saw it had a double weakness to grass attacks. She told Hoppy to use Absorb, and Wooper was knocked out. Mireiyu went mad with delight as Hoppy learnt a fourth attack, Sleep Powder. The boy recalled Wooper and left her alone with her Pokemon.

Mireiyu checked the time. It was 11.30, nearly midnight. Hoppy was about to go and find a place to rest when the two Murkrow came back, cawing harshly. One of them used Haze, and the other dived in to grab Hoppy. Mireiyu took a deep breath.

"Hoppy, use Sleep Powder!"

Hoppy jumped aside as Murkrow flew past and sprayed it with her sleep-inducing pollen. Murkrow flopped down, asleep.

"Now Tackle it!"

Hoppy ran at Murkrow and hit it with her best Tackle attack. Murkrow was out cold. The other Murkrow decided not to tangle with Hoppy, and flew off. Its partner woke up and flew away too. Hoppy seemed delighted with herself, having more than doubled her level since the start of the day.

Mireiyu bedded down in her sleeping bag, Hoppy sleeping on her waist and Totodile next to her. The fire died to cold embers, and outside, a bright shooting star burned a trail across the sky.


End file.
